The Serpent Queen
by Sarahgrace333
Summary: She knew he was a snake when they first d later when she asked why he claimed her as his, he replied,"You knew I was a snake when you let me in and you did it anyway.Your perfect ignorance brought us together and now I'll never let you go." Obsessive, possessive Tom Riddle paired with OC.HP is JKs but the story idea belongs to me so don't copy please!
1. Chapter 1

It was on an unusually warm evening in October 1938 when she was taken to her new home. Even from the outside it seemed to diffract the light and warmth leaving in its place a tall and cold atmosphere. Alice already didn't like it here. Everything was large and scary and motionless, including the people. They told her it would feel like home. They were wrong.

Wools orphanage was one of the scariest places Alice had ever encountered. She had heard rumours of the muggle world being dire but never expected this. War hung around everyone's necks and she shuddered. Her life had already witnessed enough death.

The police man guided her inside and they soon reached a desk occupying an old woman. The two appeared to be already acquainted and casually conversed whilst checking her in quickly and dismissively. They claimed she was _lucky_ that a room had just come free. From what they said she gathered that a girl had been taken to the hospital, in need of serious help as a result of a terrible _accident._ The tone the woman used suggested that it was anything but an accident but the police officer didn't seem to care and soon was off, probably happy to leave such a glum place.

The seemingly nice old lady then sighed, her face morphing into something less than pleasant, "Well what are you waiting for, you little brat. Come on!"

Alice followed behind quickly as she was lead to her new room on the first floor. She decided to put her suitcase down excluding the book in her hands which she would bring with her.

"You'll be expected to keep it clean at all times, no exceptions! Punishments are enforced to keep all you little devils in line so don't push your luck!"

She nodded her head but the matron was less than impressed by her gesture and sharply slapped the back her head.

"Verbal communication girl! Come on!"

"Yes ma'am." She whispered whilst following the old woman back out and into a dining room filled to the brim with children.

She was then introduced to the imitating few who chose to listen and then indirectly guided to a table which contained people seemingly of her age. They looked at her expectantly, there was a empty seat which seemed to be welcoming her and she was about to sit down but then a boy screamed and she ran. Ran, right to the back where there was an empty table in which there was nobody screaming.

In fact, as she looked round she noticed that it wasn't just the screaming that had stopped but the chatter as well. She searched to find the source of the silence and it didn't take long.

A boy stood at the entrance with a exceedingly noticeable smirk upon his face. He had black hair, indistinguishable eyes along with a sharp, pale face and a demanding aura which complemented his posture well. His head was held high as if he was royalty in the presence of scum and Alice found herself sitting down at her empty table rather wishing to disappear. She didn't belong here.

However instead of disappearing, which was unquestionably impossible she got out her book and began to read. It was a feeble attempt to block out this new scary world in which she worried she would never become accustomed to. She pushed her head further into the words of her book in hopes of full subregion however a dramatic tilt of atmosphere suddenly chocked the room and she was forced to look up. At him. Right in front of her.

A member of staff then came in and dismissed everyone. Then everyone left apart from her and the black haired boy. He assessed her dismissively and then made a quite tutting noise that in the silence of the dining room seemed deafening.

"You do not belong at _my_ table." He whispered the words and then sighed before carrying on speaking, "There is an order of hierarchy in this place which needs to be respected and dim ignorance is no excuse for failure when concerning these rules. You must be punished."

Alice tried to ignore his words by casting her gaze elsewhere however her façade came tumbling down when she heard a hissing sound. Out from the boys sleeve came a small serpent in which she recognised immediately as the Black Mamba. Her father and mother had loved creatures of all kinds however openly preferred the more mild species of the animal kingdom therefore Alice took it upon herself to favour what her parents overlooked thus her knowledge for cold blood creatures.

She had come across a Black Mamba before, during a visit to Africa with her parents, and although her memories of it weren't completely clear she distinctly remembered its shallow behaviour. This surprised her considering it's comfort within the arms of the boy. And then it happened. He spoke the language of the serpent; Parseltongue.

"Wow." She whispered unable to stop herself. She had only read about such a gift and in the flesh it was beautiful.

She met his glaring eyes again and noticed a slight shift in accusation, they were now also laced with slight curiosity as he held the snake up to her face.

"Do you know what snake this is?" His tone was weighted with demand and smugness.

"Black Mamba."

"Do you know what it can do?"

She nodded not having confidence in her voice. Normally she could talk to people for hours about animals but the boy in front of her was scary.

"And how do you know this?"

"Books." She tone was even more hushed as she felt the familiar pink blush bloom on her face. Her old friends had never understood her fascination so she often kept her reading habits hidden but there was no point now so she carried on, "I love snakes and um… cold blood creatures. Misunderstood."

"You believe so?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Beautiful… also… dangerous, should be respected."

He was about to reply but a bell shrieked and she flinched massively and ran. Ran until she reached her new bedroom and by that time the noises had stopped. Alice hated loud noises, especially screams.

The angry boy would be furious now. Hopefully he wouldn't shout at her.

She sat on the squeaky mattress with the book in her hands but she didn't read. Instead she found comfort in just holding it and recalling the words within that she cherished, she could even imagine her mothers voice reading to her as she had done when she was alive. Everything was so different now. This world was not her home but maybe if she tried, and the screaming stopped, one day it could be.

She awoke to another bell early the next morning. Luckily this one was muffled by the walls separating her from the ring so it wasn't too bad. She got herself ready and headed to the dining hall where there was no screaming. The chair in which she was welcomed to yesterday was still left unoccupied so slowly she walked over and sat down. The people around the table halfheartedly smiled when she sat down and introduced themselves.

She looked around for the black haired boy already knowing that he wasn't in the room, with him came fear and everyone here was calm.

"He never has breakfast so don't worry." She looked up to meet the eyes of a pretty boy with blond hair, "We're all surprised your even downstairs most people take days to recover."

Despite the fact that he spoke in a hushed tone everyone around us heard and another boy who was sat beside him smacked the back of his head.

"Shut up Darren! Do you want to end up like Sarah?"

He shook his head and looked down in shame before meeting Alice's eyes again, "Don't worry, you'll adjust, we all have." He looked around the table before continuing, "Just avoid him, keep your head down and you'll do fine."

The rest of the table nodded and readily explained to her the daily routine obviously wanting to move onto any other topic of conversation. She also found out that it was the beginning of the autumn holidays meaning they didn't have school. That seemed to please the people around the table but Alice saddened at the thought, she loved school, especially reading.

Everyone at the table finished eating just as the bell went off. She desperately wanted to run to her room away from the noise but that wasn't an option so instead she put her fingers in her ears to block the sound. It wasn't fully effective but worked well enough to subside her terror. The people at her table had hold her that it was the 'food bell' to tell people when meals were being served and when they had ended. If what they had also said was true, now they had morning chores.

She followed them as they walked to a router. Some children moaned whilst others cheered as they found their names. Alice, after five minutes of waiting, found that she was on dusting duty in the main office. _Beginners luck_ apparently because the others claimed it was one of the easier jobs.

Half an hour later, with sweat glistening on her skin she wondered what the hard chores were like. The member of staff however was marginally sympathetic so did allow her too leave earlier than the others.

As she walked down the empty corridor, Alice decided to give herself a tour of the place. It was all rather dull until she came across a small library, if you could even call it that. The dark room consisted of two chairs, a table, a window and a pitiful bookshelf. Either way, books were books so she ran over to the bookshelf and picked up a familiar title.

 _Heidi_ was the story of friendship as a consequence of abandonment and she found herself relating to the protagonist much more now. It was comforting and she found herself so lost in the words that she didn't realise the door open. Nor did she notice the figure watching her closely. In fact she only came to the recognition when the chair scrapped across her floor and the boy sat before her.

"I do not appreciate what you did yesterday." His tone was testing.

"I'm sorry." She breathed the three syllables quietly before continuing, "It was too loud."

"You… dislike loud noises?"

She nodded her head quickly and an awful smirk was painted on his face.

"Well that's a shame considering that lunch is in two minutes… and one of the bells is right there." His long, spindly finger pointed to the ugly round shaped piece in the corner of the room.

Alice stood up in an attempt to escape but his hand wrapped around her wrist disabling her from escaping.

"Tut tut tut." He titled his head to the side patronising her, "You don't get to run from me, not this time Alice."

"Why are you being so.. so cruel?" Her voice was shaky and quite but Alice needed to comprehend his abnormally horrible behaviour.

" _You_ are the cruel ones." He looked at her with disgust, " _You_ were the bullies but not anymore. Oh no how the game has changed now. I have powers, I can make you hurt like you hurt me!"

He didn't ever shout which in normal circumstances Alice would have been grateful for however now it was terrifying. She could physically feel his anger coursing around the room but she still couldn't understand, "I haven't hurt you."

"You would have done, they all did. I'm not like you, I'm _different_." His words carried hints of self loathing and in a moments flash she saw the shadow of a boy desperate to fit in.

"So am-" She was about to respond when the shrill of the bell slammed into her ears and she tried desperately to escape his iron grasp.

The look of pleasure filled his eyes as he held his free hand towards the bell that carried on screaming. She knew it was him. Prolonging her torture. Her knees began to buckle as tears streamed down her face. Her brain felt as if it had been put in an oven as she began to shake. She couldn't take it anymore.

Suddenly the familiar white hot power surged through her veins and the screaming bell was put to death with a dramatic bang that emitted across the building. Silence fell and in his shock she managed to break free of his grasp and run. Run to her room wit's hopes of never leaving.

I hope you enjoyed because I did!

Updates soon if you guys liked it (and since I've broken up for summer they'll probably be regular).

Comments always appreciated.

Sarah


	2. Chapter 2

**By the way Alice is 9, Tom is 11 and Darren is 12. And I'm sorry is the dialect is out of character for their age (just pretend their really smart and read loads of books) and considering the time period. I'm just having fun writing this fan fiction tbh the serious work is for JK who owns the series. But please don't copy this story, thanks.**

 **PS their might be typos (gasp) but I'm tired so give me a break ;D I'll edit it later.**

Alice laid awake for hours, scolding herself, before finally drifting asleep. She could blame her outburst on a multitude of things including that boy but deep down knew she it was entirely her fault. Despite being only nine years old her parents had taught her better than to lose control and risk endangerment as well as exposure. She needed to be more careful but for now she could rest.

Waking up hungry was a new and unpleasant feeling for Alice. Surprisingly during her nap -which had soon turned into a deep sleep- none of the other bells had rung and awoken her. She might have slept through them, but that seemed unlikely considering her skittishness which awakened her with the slightest shrill of noise.

Her belly rumbled and she knew the mystery of the bell would have to wait. It was dark outside her small window, which wasn't unusual for October, but even so the complete lack of bird song gave the impression that it was far too early for breakfast. Her belly whined at the thought and Alice knew that she'd never fall back to sleep like this. She needed food.

' _It's not really stealing'_ she thought to herself ' _you missed dinner last night so you'll only be taking food you should've gotten then'._ She bit her lip at her moral dilemma, from a young age she had been taught that stealing was stealing whether it be the Crown Jewels or a loaf of bread. But what if that loaf of bread was going to starving people who really needed it then surely the stealing was necessary, good even. Yes, she was doing the right thing by taking food.

Her quickly fabricated plan to obtain the meal was simple, yet effective, so there was no reason for failure. No one apart from her would ever find out.

As she approached the door she shivered partly in anticipation but mostly because of the cold. Therefore she grabbed her dressing gown and after a short, internal debate decided to abandon her slippers knowing that they made too much sound. Then, slowly she walked to the door and it creaked open. To her ears the noise was deafening but she supposed in the silence anything would appear as so.

With fear running wild in her veins she quickly descended across the corridor and down the stairs. She had originally planned to go slow and steady in order to minimise sound however the tall, menacing shadows looming in every corner were enough to make her run for the kitchen.

When she finally reached the equally daunting kitchen she quickly shut the door behind her. Alice could feel the chasing shadows claw at her skin as she turned the light on casting them away. Her hunger seemed almost a distant memory to her panicking brain but as her heart rate had calmed she gathered her bearings and searched for food where she soon came across some bread. Then she took two slices from the middle so no suspicion would be aroused, stuffed them in her pocket and made her way back to the door.

She was mentally preparing herself for the run back to her room when she heard it. At first she thought she was imagining things but then the noise arose again and she turned away from the door. The abnormal sound was coming from the left so she quietly followed hoping that her instincts telling her not to run were right.

As she turned the corner she saw it. An Adder snake.

Alice had never met one before so was quite amazed but quickly collected herself and said, "I don't know how you got in here but this is far too cold for you, even if you are a British native." It cocked its head sideways as if in confusion and she smiled, "I don't have anything to help you with the cold sadly but I saw some food over there that you'll love."

Quickly she grabbed the red meat she had seen earlier from the bin and then she ripped it into manageable chunks and fed it to the snake. It seemed to be enjoying its meal and she was glad however now her hands were all bloody. So she washed them thoroughly and returned to the snake who was swallowing the last chunk of meat, "Im sorry I can't help you anymore than that but I assume you are with that boy so I hope you find him or go back to where he keeps you because it's too cold for you here." She paused as she heard a creak from upstairs and increased her pace knowing that the sooner she leave the better, "Anyway it's been great meeting an Adder so close. I have seen many species of snake but mostly in captivity which makes me sad and I uh wish to do something about that in the future. Umm Goodbye."

She backed away slowly in order not to distress the snake but as soon as she was out of Peripheral vision, ran back to her room. And as she climbed back into bed she sighed in relief, mission accomplished with no human witnesses. Or so she believed.

Nobody noticed her crime and Alice was amazingly grateful. She had awoken by the patter of feet the next day and slowly made her way down for breakfast. At the point in her journey when she reached the stairs, she expected to see a scary looking police man waiting for her but of course that wasn't the case. And then when she reached the dining room she worried she might see a member of staff punishing someone for her crimes but again that didn't happen. Therefore as she sat down next to Samuel she was greatly relived.

Her relaxation must not have been on the subtle side because Darren took notice, "There's no need to be worried. Remember, he doesn't eat breakfast." He spoke in a more hushed tone this time -learning from his mistakes- and as a result nobody noticed their topic of conversation.

"It wasn't about him." Alice replied, beginning to ear her cereal until she saw Darren's confused face and asked, "Why?"

""You don't know?" She shook her head completely oblivious to any important news, "All of the meal bells broke last night which is crazy and crazy things only happen when he's angry-"

 _Oh no_. His words began to slur as she paled. Alice hadn't just broken one bell, but all of them.

"Hey, hey Alice." He said waving his hand in her face, "are you ok?"

"I'll be ok." Her breathing hadn't calmed and neither was her tone convincing but it was all she could manage.

"Yeah, you won't ever get used to him, I've been here two years and I'm still petrified but eventually you adapt, we all do."

After that they settled in a comfortable silence, finished breakfast and then began chores. Her and Darren were paired which was pleasant and together they cleaned the bathroom. Despite the obvious disadvantages of cleaning such a smelly place it did give her time to reflect and towards the end of the job she gained the courage to ask, "Why haven't you tried doing anything, about him?"

Darren looked at her with distant eyes and said, "We did try something." He looked around and continued, "I'm not going to talk about it here, it's too risky but we could offer to do cooks grocery shop, which will get us out of here and I'll tell you then."

"Ok."

He smiled and said, "We'll just finish this and then we can go."

Darren wasn't half as hesitant to talk about the feared Tom Riddle as Alice would have expected. And, yes she found out the name everyone in the orphanage was reluctant to say. Tom Riddle.

Anyway, as soon as they exited the market, after the short walk there, with the food in their hands Darren had begun talking as they headed back but this time travelling a longer route, "As far as I know he's been at Wool's since birth and from the start he was weird. He had a crazy temper, threw violent fits and occasionally did unexplainable things whilst in these aggressive states. People where inevitably scared of him but the older ones would never admit that they were imitated by a eight year old so bullied him instead. For years it worked in keeping him and his _powers"_ he sounded unsure about his choice of words but continued, "contained but then one night he… exploded.

"Sarah, Greyson and Christian where his main bullies and one night Sarah decided to go into his room and kill his pet snake. Since he had no human friends I suppose he saw the snake as his friend… so when it was killed, he went ballistic. Her entire room as well as all the other bullies were completely trashed and then one by one _accidents_ started to happen. Greyson fell down some stairs and is now suffering from brain damage. Christian nearly drowned in the frozen lake and now suffers from a sever phobia of water in a asylum for the insane. Then finally Sarah got attacked by numerous venomous snakes, which aren't even native to England and is now in a coma.

"As you can imagine we became terrified of him but there's nothing we can do. He's made it clear what he wants from us and if anybody steps out of line, bam." She jumped as he shouted _bam_ not liking the loud noise but soon recovered and took time to think about what he had said.

Tom clearly needed some help. She couldn't imagine what it must be like to have a friend die but that was no way to react.

"Did you pick on him?" Despite her unusual forwardness, Alice was glad she asked wanting to know.

"Uh." Darren looked quite taken aback by her question but carried on trying not to sound guilty, "We all played our part so yes I did."

"Why?"

"I don't know," He was beginning to sound defensive, "because everyone else was doing it. I wanted to fit in when I got here so I just followed what everyone else did."

"And that makes it right?"

"No, but… but he was really weird."

"So it was ok because he was different from you, that made it justified?"

"No and I'm sorry for what I did but it wasn't just me."

"It doesn't matter about everyone else… and I'm not the one who needs an apology."

"Yes, but your the one I care about. I know what I did was wrong and I'd never do it again."

"You promise?"

"Yes, of course."

"Ok." She said and then began walking to the main gate. Alice trusted Darren enough to keep his promise and she hoped she wasn't betrayed.

 **Hope you enjoyed! Remember to Vote and Comment because it really encourages me to see people are enjoying it as much as I love writing these sorts of things.**

 **Sarah**


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